Whole Wheat Calzones

We have some lovely friends in town that make delicious homemade pizza. Their last name is “Tandy”, and because they have made their awesome pizza for so many, most people around here who know and enjoy their pizza lovingly call it “Tandy Pizza”. If you say, “We’re going to have Tandy’s Pizza for lunch,” everyone will get excited. This family has turned their pizza into a ministry, feeding loads of teenagers each week, making their pizza for large groups, baking it for kids at church camp, and the list goes on. Everyone loves the Tandys and their pizza ministry.

Well, a few weeks ago, I finally perfected my own homemade whole wheat pizza crust, and then adapted it to make calzones for a quick, grab and go meal. Malachi, our seven year old, took one bite of his and excitedly declared it to be “as good as Tandy Pizza!”. Now that is quite an honor. Ever since, Malachi has been calling these calzones “Tandy Pockets”. It seems as though the Tandys are getting the credit for allllll my hard work, but hey, I’m okay with that. (And P.S. it doesn’t really take a lot of hard work to make these. I just wanted to sound momentarily pitiful.) ;)

How to Make Whole Wheat Calzones

5 cups whole wheat flour (I use freshly ground flour from hard white wheat)
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 2 pouches)
2 cups warm water (The water should feel warm to the touch, but not burn your finger. How’s that for a specific temperature. This is how thorough I am…)

Mix all ingredients together, knead for 3-4 minutes, then allow the dough to “rest” for about 10 minutes (give or take). Use the dough to make two pizzas, baking for about 25 minutes each. (More specific pizza instructions coming eventually). :)

Divide prepared dough into 18 balls. Roll each on a well floured surface. Top with pizza filling of choice.

Fold pocket in half and pinch ends together. Place each calzone on a baking sheet until pan is full.

Bake the pan of calzones at 375° for about 25 minutes or until calzones are golden brown. Makes about 18 calzones. Serve immediately. Or, allow the calzones to cool completely, then refrigerate or freeze them to serve another time. To reheat, place cold or frozen calzones in an oven or toaster oven for 8-15 minutes or until they are heated through.

You can also freeze these before baking if you prefer. Simply place the raw, shaped calzones on a baking sheet and freeze immediately after forming. Transfer frozen calzones into a freezer bag. Bake directly from frozen state in a 375° oven for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Making these Tandy Pockets Whole Wheat Calzones is super easy, and a perfectly wonderful “Make Ahead Meal“. What are your family’s favorite pizza pocket fillers? And oh yes, these would be perfect for meat and cheese pockets, breakfast pockets, and what else can you think of?

I just made these (very close to the same recipe) and used shredded bbq’d chicken, purple onion, and mozzarella cheese. They were delish! My kids had normal ‘pizza’ ones and they ALL ate them like little piggy’s (very unusual for my kids :) We are going to make them with ham and cheese soon to have around for lunches. Breakfast ones would be yummy too, thanks for the suggestion!!!

We make homemade pizza every other week – even have a ceramic stone to bake it on in the oven (it is a whole lot cheaper than from a pizza parlor and healthier for our two teenaged sons). One of our son’s favorite type of pizza is when we place mozzarella cheese around the outside edge of the dough, then fold and seal the dough over the ring of cheese so you end up with cheese inside the outer edge of the pizza. Sometimes we roll the pizza up and make stromboli or, like you, we fold it over to make calzones. To “dress up” our calzones, we brush the tops of the calzones with olive oil then sprinkle it with grated Parmesan cheese and/or an herb mixture. Thanks to you we now mill our own flour!

We do a homemade pizza sauce that is so easy. I wasn’t happy with the store bought sauces either, and had been using Muir Glen, but found out they use BPA in the plastic lining of their cans. I just empty a jar of tomato paste into a bowl (purchased at Tropical Traditions when it’s free shipping!). Then I start throwing seasonings in (all measurements approximate and according to taste): 1-2 Tblsp. Italian seasoning, 1 Tblsp. dehydrated onion, 1/2 tsp. salt, pinch black or red pepper, 1/4 tsp. onion powder and 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 Tblsp. sucanat (blended so it dissolves)and 1 Tblsp. olive oil. Then I wisk it until blended and add water until the whole thing is “pizza sauce” consistency. The herbs and dehydrated onions will rehydrate and flavor the sauce better if this is simmered for a little while, but we usually don’t bother and it turns out just fine since it seems to cook enough while in the oven. This sauce will make enough for two large pizzas. Very economical, also!

I also purchase the strained tomatoes and paste in jars from TT on free shipping day. I also “wing it” when making my pizza sauce, similar to yours. I also add shredded parmesan or a similar hard italian cheese to the sauce, as well. So much better than store bought!

Mmmm, these are lunch today. I made spaghetti last night, and had sauce but no noodles left over. Just scooped that into my crusts since it already had the sauce, meat and veggies. Added some cheese, and YUMMY!

My mom knew the Tandy family many years back – like before I was born. Our favorite thing with calzones is to do individual fillings. The kids like them pretty traditional. My husband and I like spinach, feta, diced tomatoes, bell peppers and pepperoni in them. We also find it’s easier to leave the sauce out and then dip it in the sauce when eating. They cook crispy and sauce inside can burn the mouth long after the other ingredients are too cool!

I am making these calzones today! It’s the first day of our summer break and I’ve got to keep my growing boys fed 3x a day now (they go to public school). I’ve got the dough going in the bread machine (hope it works, but why shouldn’t it, right?). Like a previous poster, I am continuously seeking the perfect pizza dough recipe. I like that this one uses only WW flour — many are mixed. Thank you!

Back to update: LOVED the crust — wonderful! I made a half recipe so I ended up with 8 calzones. I did 6 with jarred marinara, mozzarella, and snipped up turkey pepperoni, and 2 with pesto, spinach, red onion, and feta. I baked on a pizza stone for 20 minutes. The mozzarella leaked a bit so I’m wondering if I should have poked a couple holes in them or if I just needed to seal them better, but definitely worth another try! My kids have never had calzone so were skeptical at first until I called them pizza pockets (LOL! Yeah, whatever!). Wonderful recipe for the crust, so thank you! Question: Has anyone tried mixing the dough with herbs? I was thinking garlic and some Italian seasonings so I could use a plain olive oil base underneath the pizza toppings. Also, because my cheese oozed, the bottoms of my calzone ended up getting a bit greasy.

I make a similar recipe, but it calls for 1/4 cup butter and we add herbs to the dough… our favorite calzone or stromboli dough ever! The kids like it when the tops of theirs have a heart shaped pepperoni or something on top. My hubby and I place a bit of onion or mushroom on top of ours so we know whose is whose after baking. As far as the “leaking cheese” a bit of water on your finger “run around the edge” before sealing will solve that :) We also dip ours in the sauce as opposed to putting sauce inside :-)

I have tried these several times as well as the homemade poptarts. Everytime the “innerds” blow out of the side during the baking process. I have tried pinching them, forking them, putting egg betwee the seams, water, etc and nothing seems to work. Anyone have any suggestions how to keep my yummy insides from bursting out? Thanks!

I just made these for the first time tonight. I saw the recipe called
for dividing the dough into 18 pieces. I probably only split them into
9 pieces, and I didn’t roll them out very thin. Maybe if they were
thicker? Good luck!

This is our favorite pizza dough – fast and easy and extremely yummy! I divided the whole recipe into 4 pieces, made one small pizza for the kids (cheese only), one small pizza for my husband (he likes jalepenos), and made a deep dish pizza for myself and it’s wonderful! Now to figure out how to make a garlic butter dipping sauce like Papa John’s for the extra crust I have! :)

Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes!
I want to make pizza but two pizzas is way too much for our family. Can I freeze part of the dough for another time or should I bake the crust and then freeze the crust for another time?

I love this recipe! I make it for my parents and sisters sometimes. . . they love it too! Sometimes we have restaurant night night that is with calzones anyway well we let everybody pick what goes in there like pepperoni or mushrooms or cheese, etc. Thank you again for the recipe!:)
-Halie-

thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe. My husband and children loved, loved, loved these. I filled them w/pepperoni, fresh shredded mozz, tomatoes, green olives and mushrooms. My husband said it was the best italian food I have made yet. I had been trying to convince him that I wanted to buy your recipe book…this convinced him…should have done it sooner.

I stumbled upon this page looking for a whole wheat calzone dough. I am so glad I found you! The dough was so much better than my old one. Everyone was so excited. I cut up some veggies and mixed them with a bit of olive oil, lemon juice and some seasonings and added to my calzones with feta and mozzarella cheeses. A huge hit and no need to precook the veggies.

I came across your page while doing a search on whole wheat calzones. These look amazing and I can’t wait to try them. I think I may go the bbq chicken route–my husband will love them! Thanks for posting this. :)